This section provides background information related to the present disclosure and is not necessarily prior art.
Vehicles such as automobiles are commonly equipped with power window closure systems, which typically utilize an electric motor to open and close a window of the vehicle. Traditionally, power window closure systems were operated and controlled by the manual manipulation of a toggle switch. In such power window closure systems, the electric motor raises the window for as long as the toggle switch is held in a window-close switch position. The electric motor stops raising the window when the toggle switch is released or when the window reaches a closed position. Similarly, the electric motor opens the window for as long as the toggle switch is held in a window-open switch position. The electric motor stops raising the window when the toggle switch is released or when the window reaches a fully opened position.
In more recent years, vehicles are being built with a greater number of occupant convenience features. To this end, some vehicles have been equipped with automated window closure systems, where the electric motor may continue to open and/or close the window after the toggle switch has been released from the window-open switch position or the window-close switch position, respectively. For example, the electric motor may autonomously move the window to the fully opened position when the toggle switch is briefly moved to the window-open switch position and released while the window is in the closed position. In another example, the electric motor may autonomously move the window to the closed position when the toggle switch is briefly moved to the window-close switch position and released while the window is in the fully opened position. In the automotive industry, such occupant convenience features are commonly referred to as “one-touch down” and “one-touch up” window control features. Such features generally improve convenience and occupant comfort because the occupant is not required to hold the toggle switch in the window-open and/or window-close switch positions for lengthy periods of time (lasting several seconds) in order to move the window from the closed position to the fully opened position and vice versa.
Automated vehicle closure systems however do create other convenience problems. It is particularly difficult to open the window only a short distance to a vent position (i.e. “crack the window”) when using a window that is equipped with the “one-touch down” feature. For side door windows, the vent position is sometimes referred to as a “short-drop position” because the window has dropped only a short distance away from the closed position. Instead of lowering the window just a short distance when the toggle switch is moved to the window-open switch position and quickly released (as would be done to crack the window using a traditional power window closure system), the automated vehicle closure system will continue to open the window toward the fully opened position. As a result, the occupant typically must rapidly move the toggle switch from the window-open switch position to the window-close switch position in order to place the window in the vent position. This requirement can become annoying for the occupant.
There have been several attempts to address this convenience problem by modifying known automated window closure systems with an automatic vent feature. One solution is disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0095633, which was published on May 3, 2007 and names Naohiro Sakai as the sole inventor. In this publication, a square, four-contact point switch is provided that can be tilted fore and aft, side to side, or push straight down. When the switch is pushed straight down, the window(s) automatically lower to a vent position. Another solution is disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0332086, which was published on Dec. 30, 2010 and names Ruimin Zhao as the sole inventor. In accordance with this publication, the window(s) automatically lower to a vent position in response to a “double-tap” of the window switch. Neither one of these solutions is ideal because they can be tedious to operate, especially considering that the occupant may have their attention diverted to other interests such as driving. As a result, known solutions tend to be distracting and frustrating to operate.